Ten Little Humanoids
by microlm
Summary: Ten people are invited for a week's stay on a private island. One by one they fall. Should the culprit, or perhaps vigilante, remain uncaught, by week's end, there will be none. Based on Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None"; AU, sequel to Red Room
1. Invitations

A/N: So, 1 year and many introspective fics later, here's one with plot! It's a semi-sequel to Red Room, but no need to read that if you don't wantto. Might be some spoilers in here for it if you haven't read it though. Anyways, really just a semi-sequel so that I don't have to set up the relationships again. Hmm, I hope I don't just give up on this halfway or start an indefinite hiatus; two multi-chapter fics without stopping them is a record for me! Well, if it doesn't update in over 6 months, it's dropped.

Disclaimer: Yusei Matsui (who I really wish would come out with a new series or even oneshot already) owns all the characters.

---Chapter 1: Invitations---

When people went to the Fang Hair Salon for a haircut, they didn't just sit there for an hour or two silently. Somehow or another, haircuts seemed to loosen everyone's tongues. Everyone was saying some tidbit of gossip to someone else and someone else would be trying to have their say too. The deluge of voices completely flooded out the sound of elevator-esque music playing meekly through the speakers on the ceiling. Still, if one concentrated hard enough, strands of information could be extracted from the ocean of words.

Katsuragi Yako heard a few things here and there, many of them, she noticed with a grimace, involved her. One would think that normal, for she _was_ once convicted of murdering her father (freed and innocent now), but it even wasn't of the murder that everyone was muttering to everyone else in excited tones.

_Look! Look! Over there! The girl next to the red-head!_

_ Oh, you don't suppose those rumors of her being willing to eat humans if she isn't appeased are true do you?_

_ I heard she cleared out an entire restaurant once…_

_ Wonder if this salon's going to be involved in a crime soon. That piggish detective always seems to be on the heels of a case…_

Piggish detective. Yako supposed that it was better than murderess, but still, did _piggish_ really have to be in there? She was no cannibal, and she only cleaned out _half _a restaurant! It was uncomfortable, being the center of attention. She had thought her life would calm down after being acquitted, but no, Neuro had to stay in it and keep it wild. Deep down, she knew she rather enjoyed the chaos, Yako just wished that it could come without crowds of people staring at her (and a certain fanboy who pestered her for autographs).

At least a few people at the salon didn't seem star-struck. One, of course, was Kanae, who had been friends with Yako for too long for that to happen, and the other was Mozu Takayasu, hair-dresser extraordinaire. He had proclaimed her hair too terrible to style at once and instead went to fawn over Kanae's hair, leaving Yako to be fought over by all the stylists still free of customers.

Not that Yako minded much. She found the way Takayasu fondled hair as he styled it disturbing and knew that she could never feel at ease having her hair cut by him. Kanae, meanwhile, seemed oblivious to his nearly insane expression. Yako sighed. Perhaps it was just she who was becoming more adept at noticing the signs of a deranged criminal, mostly thanks to Neuro. Neuro who solved her case and now enslaved her as his supposed 'teacher'. He was even more disturbing than Takayasu, inhumane. In fact, Yako doubted his status as humans sometimes (if that status was even true).

"Look at this, Yako," Kanae said, handing over a magazine to her. "Some foreign billionaire bought himself an island off of Tokyo Bay and built a mansion on it. Seems that it's only just been completed."

Yako took the magazine and glanced over the article. "Ugh, I wish I had a couple million lying around to buy an island with."

"Pft, more like you'd buy food. I bet you'd go through the money within a couple of years too."

"Hey! Now you're just exaggerating. Although," Yako paused, her eyes glossed over and a wide smile spread over her face, "I would so love to stuff myself full on those gourmet dishes. Just once. Just once…"

"You probably make enough from you detective business for _that_," Kanae teased.

Yako broke out of her reverie and frowned. "Please don't mention anything about being a detective to me."

"Aww, I thought you liked it, Yako."

"Hardly." She gave the article another glance. "It says here that the owner is a well known philanthropist who's given enormous amounts to some research facilities."

"Mmhmm, I know. Now look at the last paragraph."

A look of surprise came over Yako's face. "He's inviting ten people to stay a week in the mansion?!"

"Imagine if you were someone he invited."

Yako laughed. "You know the chances of that happening are almost none, Kanae. But it would be nice…"

* * *

Yako stepped off the train, unsure if she really didn't prefer the overcrowded compartments over the stifling, over-bright weather. It was only May and the sun already beat down upon her mercilessly as she made the five minute walk to the detective office.

It was better within the complex which housed the office. The rather dark, narrow stairwells did not speak of the prestige which 'her' little detective office held. Before entering said office, Yako took the mail. As a reward for her trek, a hand shot out and grabbed her head as soon as she opened the door.

"But I wasn't la—!" Her unheard protest turned to a shriek as she was thrown through the air and collided into the couch.

"I know, teacher!" The offender said happily, voice dripping with venom. "But that was simply too fun to resist."

"Why don't I report him to the police?" Yako grumbled as she righted herself.

"Because you know I could do worse."

"Right." She picked up the fallen letters, "Here's the mail for today," she said, tossing them towards the man.

Neuro (as was the inhumane man's name) caught them deftly. With his usual speed, he flipped through the letters, barely giving each a glance. On the fourth letter, he paused for a moment before throwing the rest of the mail over his shoulders.

"What's that?" Yako asked. It was rare that Neuro ever opened any letter. Bills were handled by Yako and junk mail fed into her mouth to be dumped into the trash.

"An invitation, it seems," he said. It only took him a second to read through it, and before Yako could ask as to its contents, Neuro had already slapped it into her face.

Irritated (although almost in a familiar sort of way now, Yako noted sadly), Yako took the paper off of her and began to read.

_To Katsuragi Yako's Demon World Detective Office,_

_ As you most likely know by now, I have recently built a new vacation home upon a private island I had bought a few years ago. It is with great pleasure that I wish to extend my invitations to both Miss Katsuragi and Mr. Nougami for a week's stay. All home comforts will be provided and you need only bring clothing or other personal belongings. Eight others have been invited to partake in this little housewarming I have arranged. If you would accept this invitation, I would be much obliged._

_ Please mail your answer to the above address. Should you decide to accept, wait for the ship which will take you to the island at Pier 32 on the sixth of the next month at 5:10._

_ Zodiar Kubrick  
_

Yako's eyebrows shot further and further up her forehead as she read the letter. "Neuro!" she said excitedly, visions of delectable delicacies dancing in her head, "I can't believe we got an invitation!"

"Oh?" he replied calmly. "You've heard of this?"

"A lot of people have. Some rich philanthropist is inviting people to his new mansion, probably to show it off or something." Yako stopped and a worried expression settled itself on her face. "Although, it does seem rather strange," she said slowly, her visions of food fading somewhat. "Why would he invite strangers into his new mansion?"

Neuro smiled the dark smile which often made Yako doubt his humanity. "Ah, so even you notice this, cockroach. Not that it matters, we'll accept, of course."

"Eh?" Yako blinked, "But you just agreed that it's suspicious."

"Yes," glee slipped into his voice, "But I smell a mystery."

Yako looked back at the letter. He _smelled_ a mystery? How could anyone smell a mystery? Probably Neuro's way of saying that he thought a mystery would form. She frowned, Neuro seemed to have a way with knowing exactly when and where a mystery (or murder) would form itself, and when there was a mystery, he dragged her with him whether she wished to go or not. With that, the last vestiges of the happy food vision disappeared. In its place, a red room appeared.

Somehow, even now, Yako couldn't quite keep that image from haunting her.

* * *

"Yuka, why didn't you tell us earlier that you've been invited to such a prestigious event?" The uncle of the rather glum looking girl was so excited; he was nearly shaking the girl by her shoulders.

"Prestigious? It's only some guy showing off his new mansion," the girl replied apathetically, blowing a bubble with her gum.

"Your uncle is right, dear," her hard-faced mother said, "this is a great opportunity. Mr. Kubrick…"

Yuka snickered at the name.

"…is one of the richest people in the world and his corporate empire reaches into areas we can only imagine."

"I still don't see why this invitation is such a big deal."

"You can't? Well, I suppose not everyone in the family can understand. I said that Mr. Kubrick's," another snicker, "business has a hand in everything, and I did mean it. If we could somehow make him a business partner, our current profits from Eshiya's old works could increases and perhaps we could find a new way of making money after that junk is cleared out. Be sure to make a good impression, Yuka."

* * *

"Dear, are you certain that I should go?" Ayumi asked nervously.

"I don't see why not," her husband replied, happily bouncing his child on his knee. "You need a break. I think the stress is getting to you, especially since you testified at that trial."

A glimmer of madness flashed in Ayumi's eyes briefly before fading away. "Of course…but don't you think that this may be some sort of scam?"

"Nonsense. Mr. Kubrick is known to be magnanimous like this." The baby laughed and her husband beamed. "Don't worry about the children. I can take care of them for one week."

"But…"

"Ayumi, relax. I know you're still worried about that, but I won't let anything happen to them."

Ayumi swallowed uncomfortably.

* * *

"Mommy, mommy!" The golden-haired little girl hopped up and down, the floppy ears of her stuffed rabbit flapping in rhythm with her. "I can go right?"

Her mother was reading the invitation over and over again, tight-lipped, trying to find a loop-hole. "…no other person but Miss Miyasako Mutsuki is requested to present…"

"Mommy!" The little girl tugged at her skirt.

"This is outrageous, Mutsuki, you can't possibly think that I'll allow you to go without adult supervision."

Mutsuki huffed and frowned her biggest frown.

"Mutsuki, be reasonable…"

"Ah, mommy!" Her face broke out into a smile, "Miss Yuka's going to! And you always let her watch me when you're away on business trips! And you've been away for longer than a week at once!"

"Yuka is going?" Her mother paused, considering this. "But this isn't in our own home…"

"Mr. Kubrick, the sender of this letter, has a good reputation throughout the world. Besides that, he could be an excellent business partner for the company, and it would not do to displease him," Mutsuki said seriously. "You don't need to worry about me."

Her mother sighed. "I'll think about it."

* * *

In the dimly lit confines of his messy room, Higuchi Yuuya looked through his mail aided only by the blue glow of his computer screen. A particular letter had caught his attention.

"What is this? A scam?" he muttered to himself. "…Zodiar Kubrick, hmm. His decisions did raise my stocks' values remarkably, and I suppose he's credible enough." Nonetheless, he checked repeatedly on his computer for any signs of a scam such as the one he might've received.

None could be found.

"Guess this is legitimate then," he rubbed his eyes, "and I _could_ use a vacation."

* * *

Harukawa Eisuke sat in his spacious, though admittedly poorly lighted, laboratory. Many who wandered in felt that it was strangely reminiscent of the lairs of villains often seen on television. Of course, Harukawa wasn't a villain—although many thought he looked the part—and the lab was only dimly lit because if he used any more electricity, there would be a power outage. Few people knew just exactly what he was doing, and Harukawa preferred it that way. If people knew too much before he was ready, they would constantly pester him with comments doubting his sanity and the like.

He was doing well at the moment, and thus, hesitant as to whether or not he should accept Zodiar Kubrick's invitation. Kubrick was a well known financier who would very possibly be interested in Harukawa's discoveries once they came to light. This would be an ideal time to introduce the idea to him.

Yet…did he really want to cease his work for a week?

He decided to consult 'himself'.

"Well, 'myself', should I accept?"

"_Yes, you admitted it too. Meeting that man would be beneficial for our goal in the future._"

"True."

"_And with 'me' in existence, I can continue with the calculations necessary even without your presence._"

* * *

Andrew Sixson was tired, but satisfied. The trial which had been ongoing for months was finally resolved (with a woman convicted for poisoning her husband in a restaurant). Also, he had just taken a week off from his job, and was wondering how to spend it (he _was_ thinking about a cruise). Lo and behold, an invitation had arrived inviting him for a week's stay at a mansion (which was confirmed to indeed be genuine)! What a good bit of luck (maybe even more that a bit)!

The letter had said that nine others had been invited aside from him, which only made him all the more excited. Strangers always made the most interesting new acquaintances (when, you know, they weren't serial killers).

Happily, Andrew sent an email to his old friend, Usui, telling him (or showing off to him) of his good fortune.

Usui curtly replied that he shouldn't use government emails to tell him that sort of thing. Andrew laughed his trademarked (by his acquaintances) laugh. Same as ever.

* * *

David Rice was puffed up with pride. Who could believe that he, _he_ was the lucky recipient of the invitation thousands would die for? An entire week in a mansion would be heaven, he thought confidently. Only the best of dishes and of course, everything would be of high status. Perfect for someone such as he.

His 'travel buddies' had looked enviously at him when he had told them. They wondered what he had done to get this opportunity when they had not. David smiled. Obviously, Kubrick (as silly as his name was) had good taste.

He had accepted as once and was now busily stuffing all of his home comforts he had brought with him from America into his suitcase. Somehow, he doubted that all the home comforts were provided for.

* * *

It had been a long time since Aya Aizawa had received a request to sing and years since her last concert. She had supposed that there must still be fans of her, but she had never expected a rich philanthropist to be one of them. Her voice was still in prime condition since she continued to sing and compose music. Although now a days, she wrote for her private enjoyment and they were never released to the public.

Apparently, one of her fans was richer than she had ever been.

It wouldn't hurt to accept the request, would it? Aya wondered about that. It wasn't as if she had any desire to sing for anyone. The world of music she inhabited was for her only. Isolated and illuminated only by the cold light of her creations. She had once shared and let others like her into their own worlds, but after the invasion of her world, she had decided to cut off even that connection to others. No, she did not want to let anyone else into her world.

Still, one song wouldn't hurt, would it?

She could be unselfish and still remain alone, couldn't she?

* * *

All nine replies (for the one directed to the detective agency was replied through one letter) arrived within the week, and all of them, as Zodiar Kubrick noted contentedly, were acceptances. He had such a delightful week planned for his guests and was quite sure that every one of them would enjoy their stay.

There was a knock at the door.

* * *

A/N: A shortish chapter to introduce every one. Here's to not dropping out halfway. It should be pretty obvious who the main culprit is, but hope you enjoy it anyways!


	2. Poem

A/N: This is a record for me, since I usually don't start writing the next chapter for something until a week or so afterwards. Whoo!

Disclaimer: All characters are copy-righted by Yusei Matsui.

---Chapter Two: Poem---

June was even hotter than May, Yako thought dismally, and the dying sun still made the air simmer. The boat was taking much too long to arrive as well, leaving the ten people waiting for it to stand/sit while being boiled alive.

The little girl clutching her stuffed rabbit walked up to Yako and asked her, "Miss detective, you don't think that Mr. Kubrick forgot about us, do you?" Mustsuki, as was the girl's name, apparently idolized Yako and figured that she knew everything since she was _such_ a famous detective.

"I'm sure he didn't. It's only ten minutes past the meeting time."

"Ten minutes?" Higuchi cried, "I thought that an hour's passed already!" He was slumped against his chair with his head tilted back as though his neck couldn't keep it upright.

"I think you're just too use to staying home, Mr. Higuchi."

"Teacher is right!" Neuro piped, "It isn't healthy to stay holed up in that dingy house of yours, lying in grease and filth while hacking into every website you come across."

Andrew Sixson looked quizzically at Higuchi. "You hack?"

"What? No, no, no!" Higuchi bolted upright, not wanting to cast a judge's suspicion upon him, and waved his hands frantically before him, "I don't hack! He's just joking around!"

"Eh, but I was serious."

He gave Neuro a dirty glare. "No. You. Weren't."

Neuro smiled back. "Yes I was." Higuchi gave up.

Throughout the exchange, Harukawa had continued to work on his laptop. When he had arrived, he had only smiled humorlessly at Yako's surprise and given a brief greeting to those already at the pier before setting to work. After that, he had remained silent and the only noise he made was a quiet clacking sound from his keyboard.

The only other person who had remained nearly as quiet as Harukawa was a dark-eyed girl named Yuka. She had sat with her legs and arms crossed and was still sitting so. Her only movement, it seemed, was with her mouth which was working lazily to chew the gum within it. Meanwhile, she kept a bored eye on Mutsuki who continued to walk around the pier, searching for some corner of it which she had not explored yet.

"Yuka always takes care of me when my mommy isn't home!" Mutsuki had told Yako when she introduced her to Yuka (Yuka had only nodded to her salutations).

"Is your mom away a lot, Mutsuki?" she had asked.

"Yup, since mommy owns Tanukiya now, she has to travel much more than she used to."

"Your mother is the one who owns Tanukiya?!" Her outburst had been embarrassing once Yako reflected upon it, but how was she supposed to react when standing before her was unexpectedly the heiress to the largest toy manufacturing company in Japan?

Yako had only heard Yuka say a few words, most of them involving the word 'gross'. Other than that, Yuka seemed apathetic to everything. There had only been one outburst from her. Mutsuki had commented that Yuka was the daughter of Eshiya Tougo, to which Yako had again (embarrassingly) to excitedly tell her how much she and her father admired Tougo's works.

Yuka, for the first time since Yako had met her, had stopped chewing her gum. She had given Yako glare before turning her gaze to the ground, a bitter expression on her face. "That old man isn't my father."

"Eh? But you look so much like him…"

"How the hell do I look like _him_?!" she had snapped back.

"Uhh…well…the eyes which stare…at," Yako had stammered, but Yuka had already resumed chewing her gum with a new vigor.

The loudest person at the moment was David Rice, who was actively trying to engage everyone into a conversation they were too tired (or too preoccupied) to have.

"…I wonder what sort of boat Mr. Kubrick will send. I bet it'll be a yacht, billionaires always have yachts, even when the economy is dropping into rock bottom."

Higuchi groaned from his slouched position. "Don't remind me of the economy, my stocks are dropping fast."

Perhaps to appease Higuchi, David turned to Andrew instead. "You're English, right? How about speaking some English to me, I feel as though I'm going to forget my mother tongue."

"All right then," Andrew slipped into English. "I must say, it's a bloody relief to be yakking in good ol' English again. Japanese is much too confusing for a chap like me…"

"Nevermind," David cut in quickly. "Let's go back to Japanese."

Andrew felt offended. Was there something _wrong_ with his English?

Ayumi sat apart from the rest of the little group, apprehensive. Her eyes darted everywhere and she gave a high pitched giggle whenever someone addressed her.

"Does anyone have the time?" Higuchi said.

Andrew adjusted his right arm sleeve and read off, "5:30."

"That was only another ten minutes?"

Aya, who had been gazing out towards the ocean turned to look at Higuchi with a small smile on her face. "Don't worry, I see the boat."

* * *

Normally, Yako would stuff herself full of whatever food was presented before her, and the large boat definitely food on it—a table full in fact—but, Yako merely nibbled at the appetizers (still managing to clean off two plates nonetheless). All the while, her eyes swept across the rooms of the boat, observing the passengers.

She hadn't said anything to anyone, not even Neuro, but the slight discomfort she had felt from the day they had received the invitation had only grown once she saw who the fellow invitees were. Was it only coincidence, Yako wondered, that nearly all the others were somehow or another connected back to her?

Aya was her neighbor, Harukawa her professor, Higuchi a friend, and even David Rice was a somewhat familiar face she saw occasionally on campus (he was a foreign exchange student). Then there were those who were at her trial: Andrew Sixson, the judge; Kaku Ayumi, a witness; Yuka, who, if she remembered correctly, was related to the man named Maguri who was also a witness. Only Mutsuki was indirectly connected through her association with Yuka's family.

Just what were the chances that in all of Japan, the invitees selected were connected? Yako wasn't brilliant at math, but even she knew that the chances were almost none. Perhaps it was done on purpose. She silently shook herself. Maybe she was just over thinking it…

"Well, bread crust, what are you so concerned over now?" Neuro said, appearing at her side from what seemed to be thin air.

"This…this was on purpose, wasn't it?" she said quietly so that no one but Neuro could hear her. "The fact that I seem to be able to trace every single one of them back to me."

"Don't be so self-centered. There's probably more to it than that," he replied with a smirk. "But, I would like to congratulate you. You have exceeded my meager expectations of you yet again."

Yako rolled her eyes. "If they were so meager, I doubt you'd be making me stay with you." She paused, "Shouldn't we warn them?"

"About what? For now, all we know is that the selection of the invitees was not random, but we know nothing as to its purpose. It could be something as innocent as assuring that no one will feel entirely a stranger with each other. Also, the host is a man with an excellent reputation. Even if we did tell them that this may be a setup, the others would simply believe that it's for a joke or some event he has planned for us."

Yako cast him a doubtful look. "You don't believe that it's innocent."

His smirk widened slightly, showing hints of his rows of unnaturally sharp teeth. "Of course not. However, do you want to leave, worm? One, if the purpose was truly malicious, then I doubt that we can leave the boat now. And two, no one else can either. Besides," Neuro licked his lips, "you can't a stop a mystery from occurring once the idea has been planted in someone's head."

She shuddered. "I wish you wouldn't say that a mystery is forming; people always die when you do."

Neuro only smiled.

* * *

Other than Neuro and Yako, who were talking within the boat and Ayumi who felt sea sick and had lain down on a bench, the other seven invitees were out on the deck of the boat, soaking themselves in the sun. The sun still shone brilliantly although it was already seven o'clock and only a sliver of it was above the waves. Not even those within the boat could altogether escape its rays, especially Ayumi, whose face was directly within a ray which shined through a window.

Higuchi had slung himself over a rail and was now watching the waves roll by. "Ahh, this feels much better," he said drowsily as another sea breeze blew by.

"Yuka! Yuka!" Mutsuki shouted excitedly. "Look at that view!" It was a lovely vista, with the island the boat was approaching placed _just_ in the right spot to make a fiery halo glow around one of its edges. There were no clouds in the sky, and thus nothing to blotch out the pure sheet of scarlet that the sun had painted. It bathed everything it touched in crimson.

* * *

The trip had taken nearly two hours. The bloody red of the sun had long since disappeared. At the docks, a cheerful looking man dressed in an immaculate black suit greeted them before leading them to the mansions.

The unnamed island was larger than Yako had expected it to be, making her rethink her previous expectations of the billionaire. Its rocky, not sanded, shores stretched for at least three miles down the island's western edge where they had landed. Further in was a wooded area, although it had the air of being artificial rather than completely natural for trees were spaced from each other evenly and Yako could see the stumps of trees which were only just recently chopped down. Other than that, the rest of the island seemed to be made up of a meadows and fields save the mansion grounds.

The mansion was also larger than Yako had expected it to be. It was an imposing edifice, walls painted a snowy white with tiled roof which jutted out in magnificent angles. Every window—and there were _many _—was embellished with a few, subtle designs and curtained with a soft looking material. A quaint little cobbled path wound its way up the entrance. The main door was a behemoth slab of unpainted wood which dwarfed all those who stood before it, even Neuro, who towered over everyone.

A maid answered the door and emotionlessly gestured them in. Andrew Sixson grinned and made a comment off to the side which Higuchi nodded in agreement to. The man who had led them from the docks now led them through the luxurious house. What wasn't carpeted by lush rugs were cleaned and shined. The papered walls were decorated by tasteful paintings and statues and cases or ornaments were placed between intervals.

After a quick tour which made most of the guests' heads spin, their guide took them to a corridor at the east wing of the mansion. It was where they were to say, the guide told them before assigning each one a spacious room of their own.

"Please feel free to unpack and make yourselves at home. Dinner starts in half an hour, and it'll be in the dining room down the staircase to your right," the butler told them.

"A king sized bed just for me," Yako muttered to herself once she entered the room alone. "And silk sheets too!" She glanced out the window which stretched across half of one wall. It would have a wonderful view of the sun, she decided.

Everything was perfect, and yet Yako couldn't help but feel uneasy.

* * *

"_But you look so much like him…"_

She scowled. How the hell did she look anything like that old man? Any passing resemblance was a freak accident. And of all the things the girl could've said, she told her that her _eyes_ were similar to that old man. Just thinking about those watery eyes staring after her all the time gave her the creeps. She spat her gum into a trash can in one corner of the room.

He wasn't her father. He couldn't be.

If he really was, she was sure that her mother would never have done what she did…

"_But you look so much like him…"_

No. Not him.

* * *

She felt sick. It wasn't the boat, she knew that try as she might to blame it on the boat. It was this silence, this _inability_ to do as she liked. It was choking her. She paced back and forth.

Her husband had thought that time away on an island would help her mentally. Obviously, he had no idea as to the true nature of her stress. She didn't blame him; she had never told him the truth. What the island did do was plant ideas into her head.

_No one would know_.

But she would.

_Why not lose yourself?_

Because she remembered what it led to.

There was a loud thud from the room next door. It made her jump, but relieved her stress better than the silence ever could.

* * *

"Whoops," he said to himself as he picked up his fallen suitcase. He had forgotten how heavy these things were. But they were necessary. The host was obviously generous, but you could never be too safe in situations like this. Who knew if there was some sort of ulterior motive?

* * *

He felt strangely close to his goal, closer than he had ever felt before. He wondered why, it wasn't as though he had made any further advancement. Still, it felt attainable that night, it felt real. There was a laugh from the room next to him, he had jerked his head towards the direction of the sound, but shook his head afterwards. No matter how close he felt, he reminded himself, he wasn't _that_ close.

* * *

She jumped up and down upon her new bed which was big enough to fit five of her comfortably. It was such fun! Her mother wasn't here to reprimand her for taking advantage of a rare treat such as this and there was still so much of the mansion to be explored.

The mansion was even bigger than her mother's, there had to be at least one secret passageway…

* * *

It was starting. No matter what anyone did now, there'd be no stopping it. Well, he supposed he could stop it, but what fun would that be? The smell of it was strange though, and he wasn't sure if he liked it. Still, no use of depriving himself of a meal, even if it had an odd odor. He wondered if it was possible for him to get a stomach ache.

The grandfather clock outside his room chimed its silvery tones eight times. A strange, low sound accompanied each chime. Half an hour had passed, dinner would start soon. He walked to the door and just as he prepared to open it, a small bronze plaque hammered onto the door caught his attention. As he read it, a thin smile stretched across his face.

* * *

The clock had chimed eight times. Yako's stomach answered each one with a loud grumble of hunger. Even though she was alone, she flushed a pale red, hoping that no one had heard that.

She sat up and prepared to head for the dining hall. It was then that she saw a plaque she had failed to notice upon entrance nailed to the back of the door. As she read through it, she frowned and said to herself, "What a weird poem to stick to the back of someone's door."

Ten little humanoids, drinking some wine,

One drank too fast, and then there were nine.

Nine little humanoids, playing with fate,

Fate broke, cut one, and then there were eight.

Eight little humanoids, opened up heaven,

A soul fell, hit one, and then there were seven.

Seven little humanoids, playing their tricks,

One went too far, and then there were six,

Six little humanoids, trying to stay alive,

Black Death shot one, and then there were five,

Five little humanoids, had always wanted more,

Couldn't get it, hanged himself, and then there were four.

Four little humanoids, thought they ranked above me,

I shattered his pride, and then there were three.

Three little humanoids, did not know what to do,

One wished to be alone, and then there were two.

Two little humanoids, thought rules could be shunned,

One got sent down, and then there was one.

One little humanoid, thought that he had won,

But death still lurked, and soon there were none.

* * *

A/N: And another short chapter to set up the mood.


	3. Accusations

A/N: Yay, the one scene in this story I really wanted to write!

Disclaimer: Matsui Yusei is the creator of Neuro and thus owns all the rights to it.

---Chapter Three: Accusations---

The loud grumbles from her stomach were especially loud in an empty hallway. Yako clutched her stomach, dearly hoping that no one would walk by her. Although, she supposed, the others in the dining room would hear it anyway. She brightened as she neared the entrance to dining hall; food would be served soon, and she hadn't gotten lost (as she had feared she would).

Before entering, Yako took a quick peek inside the room. It was as cavernous and grand as the other rooms for entertaining company in the mansion. There was a spotless marble fireplace upon the polished wood floor and an intricate crystal chandelier hanging above the neatly (though without food at the moment) set table's glass-dome centerpiece. Several sets of smaller tables with couches were spread out in the room. Another door at the end of the room led a ball room if she remembered correctly and the door to the right of the fireplace led to a room connected to the kitchen for the workers to bring up or prepare food (that she remembered so that she could watch for the food as it came). Only two people were there; Professor Harukawa (for the first time on the trip, laptop-less) and Aya.

Aya smiled as Yako seated herself, her hand still clutching her stomach. "Hungry as ever, Yako?"

Yako laughed sheepishly. "Yeah. That seems to be what everyone remembers about me."

"You shouldn't be surprised," Harukawa said, "Especially after what I heard you did last year at that Christmas party…"

Yako turned red. "Th-that's an exaggeration!"

"I should hope so," he said dryly. "Eating 200 kilograms of fish –"

"So, professor," Yako said quickly to cut him off, "What sort of research have you been doing lately? No one's heard a thing about it for the past few years."

Harukawa smiled complacently and turned his eyes towards the ceiling (which always had the effect of looking rather creepy). "Ah, well, it shouldn't be long now before the world hears of it."

"Is it some sort of rescue network?" Yako asked, happy to shift the conversation, "Some students said that the government had asked that from you."

"Impressive," Aya said, "even the government is requesting your work."

"Rescue network?" Harukawa mumbled, confused. "Oh, that. No, I finished its frameworks a couple days after I received the request and sent it in."

"A couple days?!" Yako turned to see Higuchi walking towards the table, an incredulous look on his face. He sat himself on a chair to the left of Yako. "Some geniuses…" he grumbled to himself.

Yako snickered at his reaction before turning back to Harukawa. "So what is it then?"

Harukawa remained silent for a moment and then, he quietly said, "Life."

Yako blinked, unsure if she had heard correctly. Aya had turned the other direction.

"Life, huh?" Higuchi said, a somewhat bitter expression on his face. "It'd be great if that could actually work."

Harukawa's expression hardened. "It will."

The other invitees soon entered. Andrew with a big grin and wave to all; David similarly (albeit louder); Mutsuki skipped in with Yuka (who had finally gotten rid of her gum); and Ayumi shakily with a watery smile plastered uncertainly upon her face. Neuro was the last to enter and covertly 'persuaded' Higuchi to move to the seat two chairs over so that he could sit by his 'wonderful teacher'. Higuchi complained under his breath, but did nothing more.

One seat at the head of the table remained empty. The placard placed on its plate read _Zodiar Kubrick_.

"Rude of him to not show up even though he's the one that invited us," David said, arms crossed.

"Perhaps he's running late," Aya said.

"Late?" Higuchi snorted, "We're in his house. How can he be late?"

"Those billionaires have plenty of houses."

"Oh yeah, huh."

"I say, look at that," Andrew said, adjusting his glasses and leaning towards the glass encased centerpiece directly in front of him. "The man has some strange tastes in art doesn't he?" Behind the thing encirclement of glass was ten figurines, each human in its overall form, but composed of many geometrical shapes. Each of them seemed to have their already deformed faces twisted into agony.

Yuka, who sat directly across from Andrew observed the figurines within the glass and frowned. "Looks kinda look what the old man did before he croaked."

"Hmm, who knows, maybe they are." Andrew reached forward to lift the glass for a closer look.

"Please abstain from touching those, Mr. Sixson, they are quite expensive." Andrew jumped slightly and laughed nervously at the butler who had just entered the room from the servant's entrance. The butler stopped at the head of the table. "I am sorry to inform all of you that Mr. Kubrick cannot greet you today. He has been delayed and it is uncertain when he will be able to come. In the meantime, please enjoy your stay. The food will be served shortly." The butler bowed and before anyone could ask any questions, slipped out.

"You don't think Mr. Kubrick will be delayed until after we leave, do you Yuka?"

"Tch, if he did, I see no real problem with it."

"Shame if he didn't though," Andrew said. "I would like to meet Mr. Kubrick."

"As would I," Harukawa agreed.

"Come to think of it," Aya said distractedly, "no one's ever seen Mr. Kubrick in public."

David shrugged. "Well, as long as there's still food."

"I hope it comes soon! Teacher gets _so _ferocious when she is hungry."

"Do you really Miss Detective?"

"No, I don't, Mutsuki."

One moment, nearly all the guests were speaking, and then another, everyone fell silent. Ayumi, who was the only one who said nothing throughout that time, was the first to react. She had given a shrill shriek once she heard it, quieting the others.

A voice, electronic and genderless, boomed out from what seemed to be the ceiling.

"_Welcome, all of you. I am pleased to find that all of you are gathered here. For what purpose? I'm sure two of the ten among you are already asking themselves that question. The rest of you, I'm sure, are here only for fun or relaxation. _

_ "This is the answer: every one of you is here to participate in my little game. A murder mystery, I suppose you could call it._"

"Game?" David stared at the ceiling, "Is this part of the itinerary?"

"Should be your thing, eh Yako?" Higuchi said, smiling knowingly. "You're sure to win."

The voice continued. "_Every one of you will play a different role. A role which each of you have played before in your life. _

"_Kaku Ayumi, as the crazed housewife who murders even her own children._" Ayumi's already pale face lost what was left of its color and her entire body shook even more violently than her desperate screams denying everything.

The smile on Higuchi's face slid off. "Hey, are you okay—"

"_Higuchi Yuuya,_" Higuchi froze. "_As the boy who killed his parents._" Higuchi stared wide-eyed at the ceiling, jaw slack in disbelief.

"_Yuka Touga, who too killed a parent. Happily, only the father this time, although she did leech everything out of him." _Yuka's mouth moved rapidly as though she wanted to say something.

"_Harukawa Eisuke as the murderer of Honjou Setsuna." _Slowly, Harukawa too turned his head towards the ceiling, the same hardened expression still upon his face, but Yako could see his fists clenched so tightly they almost bled.

"_David Rice, of course, as the culprit behind the death of Tsukyuki Sakura._" David did nothing, but his face changed into a dark scowl.

"_Andrew Sixson, who has quite possibly murdered more than anyone of you, as a judge who let the deaths of dozens occur._" Andrew buried his face in his hands and laughed quietly.

"_Aya Aizawa as the brilliant superstar whose career was marred by tragedy of her own causing: the deaths of her two best friends, Daijima Takurou and Ooizumi Hibari_." Aya continued to sit calmly in her seat although her small smile had disappeared.

"_Last but not least, Miyasako Mutsuki,_" here, Mitsuki clutched Yuka's arm tightly, "_As the adorable child who killed her dear uncle._" Her grip tightened even more and Yuka was too distracted to notice.

"_The remaining two, Miss Katsuragi Yako and Nougami Neuro, shall be the detectives of the case, a role which I'm sure that they will have to complaints to that. The game scenario is simple: there is a special killer on this island who will be murdering each and every one of you one by one. If you want to survive, identify the murderer. If you do, I guarantee you that the remaining players will leave this island unharmed. If by week's end, the culprit remains uncaught, well then, I suppose the boat ride back to the mainland won't be necessary. Do enjoy your stay._"

The voice said nothing else and neither did the guests.

_Too quiet. Much too quiet. This soundlessness presses even harder on the eardrums than noise. It _hurts_. Can't someone, anyone, say anything? Oh, this is much too quiet. So quiet. Just like that little thing after it dropped dead…no heartbeats, no breaths; just one shroud of silence that wrapped tightly around the head._

"Shall we search for the source of the recording?" Neuro said, more as a statement than as a question.

"I think we should," Harukawa replied quietly.

"Well then, teacher?" Neuro stood and gave Yako a look telling her to follow.

"Right…" She continued to observe the people before her. They couldn't have, could they?

_Oh, good. Someone is speaking. But why such restraint? Where is the anger? Where is the explosive outrage?! Oh, chains and chains in the air keeping everyone's true selves if a kennel. Choking and choking, smothering... Where'd the air go?_

"H-hey!" David Rice rose, gesturing towards Yako. "You don't believe what that…whoever it was, said, do you? I'm m-mean, obviously, I doubt any of us did anything. We'd be in jail if we did right?"

"Perhaps," Neuro said.

"I wasn't asking you!" David shouted, giving a frantic wave towards Neuro's direction before turning back to Yako. "You don't, right?"

_Ah…there's the explosion._

"I…" Yako hesitated.

"Just stop," Higuchi said, getting up as well. "Obviously, they researched us well."

"Yes, yes, they did," Aya murmured.

"Fine then!" David yelled, face blotching with red. "Maybe you people killed, but I didn't!" He bolted from his seat and backed into a corner. "All of you stay away from me!"

_Ow…ringing in the ears. Too loud. Too loud. Incessant noise hammering at the skull... overwhelming everything. _

"I-I didn't do anything either," Mutsuki said shakily, still clutching Yuka's arm tightly.

"No one's saying that you did anything, Mutsuki. Just some sicko's idea of a prank," Yuka said, scowling.

"It's not as if someone's accusing us per say," Andrew said, "just that…we have been given roles to play."

"Judge, please." Higuchi scoffed. "I doubt that you really think that this is all just a game."

"Well…for the child…"

"The child ought to know what's going on."

"There's no sign of any disc inside the speakers," Neuro announced in the midst of the chatter. "Then they must be connected to another system and teacher says that there's none of that from neither the entrance nor the ballroom. Thus, her conclusion is that whoever set up the track did it somewhere in the worker's area." He gestured towards the door by the fireplace. "Shall we all check?"

Wordlessly, the other invitees followed Neuro through the door. David Rice hesitantly followed as well, perhaps afraid of being left alone.

It was noiseless in the hallway except for Ayumi. The hallway stretched beyond what they could see and curved often. _Why would anyone build such a long hallway between the dining room and kitchen?_ Yako wondered, _Seems illogical if the purpose of this hallway was to ease the delivery._

As they neared the third turn, Neuro (who headed the party) stopped. Nestled in the corner was a small stereo. When Neuro hit the play button, the mechanical voice again sounded from both the stereo and in the room they had just left.

"I bet it was him," David said angrily, pushing through the others to get to Neuro. "That butler! That bastard probably had hit play on the way down to the kitchen!" His voice rose. "You hear that?! I'm going to—"

_Too loud. Too loud. Why won't it shut up anymore? Can't it tell I need it to stop…?_

"It probably was him," Neuro replied, cutting in. "But as sure as I am that you wish to inflict bodily harm on him, I don't think that it's possible."

"Who's going to stop me? Huh?!" He looked around wildly, "You? You? You? Ha! As if any of you could!"

_Was the silence really worse than this?_

"If you would be quiet for a second and listen, I think even you would realize why."

_Yes…silence…it wouldn't be too bad…_

David gritted his teeth to keep from yelling any more. "Well?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm listening."

"Then haven't you noticed something strange?"

In the absence of David's voice, it was silent.

_The sound of…death?_

"I-I don't hear anything," Mutsuki said, confused.

"Wait, it's too quiet," Yako said. "If they're cooking in there, there'd have to be some sound."

"That's right teacher! You're so _brilliant_," here came the bone-crushing bear hug, "In other words. The kitchen is empty. Actually, if teacher's deductions are correct, then the entire mansion is empty except for us!"

"What?!" was echoed by more than a few of the others.

"Feel free to check if you don't believe me," Neuro motioned towards the door around the last corner.

David sprinted for the kitchen door, the others followed closely behind. When the door was thrown open, the kitchen was empty. The lights were on, reflecting off of the stainless steel countertops. Not a pot or pan was out of place. At the far end of the kitchen was a door leading out of the mansion.

"Clean, no?" Neuro said as he walked, pulling Yako with him. "It hasn't even been used yet. Don't bother yelling," he said to David, who was growing red in the face. "Like I said before, most likely, no one else is in this mansion besides the ten people in this room right now."

"So what? They all just left?" Higuchi said, "Evacuated the entire mansion's staff in ten minutes or so?"

"Just how many staff members do you think there are in this mansion?"

"How am I supposed to know? I haven't seen all of them yet…"

"Three," Harukawa cut in. "There were only three staff members on this island ever since we arrived."

"Three?! Three isn't enough to run a mansion this big!"

"Yeah, even my house requires more than three," Yuka said.

"Oh, Mr. Harukawa is correct," Neuro said, smiling. "There was never any intention to run a mansion. All that was required was someone to show us in and then two others that can be put on for show. The rest of the staff could be imaginary. As Mr. Higuchi said before, '_I haven't seen all of them yet_.' Because the mansion is this large, everyone automatically assumes that there are more people in it, only elsewhere. We were kept from suspecting anything and while we sat in the dining room, the three who worked here left. As Mr. Rice observed earlier, the butler probably had the disc played as he walked by the stereo."

"Where are they now?" Aya asked.

"Heading for the docks, if not already they're not already there."

"Then we can still catch them, can't we?" Andrew said.

Yuka scoffed. "Sure. We can definitely overtake them; stumbling around in a forest we don't know."

"It's only a straight line to the beach."

"The leisurely walk we took from the docks to here was around ten minutes," Neuro said, "Fifteen minutes have gone by already, and I doubt they took a leisurely walk to the docks."

"Hey, where's Mr. Rice?" Higuchi said, looking around.

"The back door is open," Aya said.

"What the?! Gah! We're gonna spend the entire night chasing this guy at this rate!" Without another word, Higuchi sprinted after David. He was quickly overtaken by Yuka and Andrew due to his pitifully slow legs, bred by his years or sitting in front of a computer screen. By the time he had arrived at the docks, out of breath, the others were already there, despite all having ran after him.

David was shouting obscenities at a boat half-way out of the harbor. He was soaked, having attempted to swim towards the boat before being pushed back by the surprisingly strong waves. The boat, just barely visible by the light of the half-covered moon, heaved back and forth on the swells, high although it was a windless night. "Get back here, you bastards! Get back here!"

_The wails of a child that doesn't know when to shut up. Going on and on…too loud._

The butler's voice rose above even David's. "Dear guest, please calm down and enjoy your stay. A boat will be sent to pick whoever is left at the end of the week."

"End of the week? Do you expect _me_ to believe that you people will send a boat back for us?!"

Vaguely, Yako saw the butler on the boat wave as the boat disappeared. David continued to yell and was echoed by Higuchi, Yuka, and Mutsuki.

_Shrieking and shrieking…can't think…can't do anything…not until it _shuts_ that mouth._

Eventually, their cries ceased and again no one said anything. Only the sounds of the waves washing upon the rocks were audible.

_Of course…water is the answer to everything. Choking, choking…making the air dead…making it dead…always water…_

"I still can't believe it," Andrew said, eyes staring at where the boat had been. "They really left us here."

"What's so hard to believe?" Yuka kicked sharply at the pebbles at her feet. "They said they would."

"They'll be back at the end of the week then too," Aya said calmly.

"Yeah, to pick up whoever's left," Yuka shook her head. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that we're going to be killed, of course."

Mutsuki gave a short cry and Yuka glared at Aya.

"Remember what the voice said?" Andrew said distantly. "'_There is a special killer on this island who will be murdering each and every one of you one by one.'_"

"That's a game scenario!"

"I hope it's only that," Higuchi mumbled.

"Of course it's only that! They wouldn't actually kill us! It's just a game."

"Yeah," David drew himself up confidently. "Yuka here is right! They wouldn't dare kill us!"

Mutsuki laughed weakly. "Joke's on us…I guess. We've been worried for nothing."

"Yeah…"

"Well, we shouldn't stay out here all night," Neuro said, speaking up for the first time since they arrived at the beach. The rest nodded in agreement and began to return to the mansion, again led by David who charged forward with a gratuitous amount of energy.

Near the back of the group, Aya slowed Yako. "Yako," she began slowly, "I…think that you ought to know that this isn't only a game. They," she gestured to the invitees in front of them, "may pretend that it is, but…every one of them knows the truth."

"I know," Yako said quietly.

Aya's lips spread back into a small smile. "We're in good hands then."

Yako glanced nervously at Neuro's back. He would be able to solve this, wouldn't he?

Even further behind than Aya was Harukawa, who had been thinking about certain things. By the time he had managed to bring his mind back to earth, the others were already halfway into the forest. Ayumi, he noticed, was still staring at the ocean, caught in her own reveries. "Mrs. Kaku, they're leaving."

"Hmm?" Ayumi swayed a little but turned and began to walk rather unsteadily towards the woods. "Yes…of course…"

* * *

"What'd you bring us back here for?" David asked testily as the ten invitees again gathered in the dining room.

"Only for a few questions, that's all," Neuro replied brightly. "Then we can all go peacefully off to bed."

"Questions? About one?"

"About you, of course. Of all of you, actually."

David stiffened. "Oh."

"Make it fast, Mutsuki's getting sleepy," Yuka said as the little girl yawned.

"Teacher," Neuro reached with his bizarrely long arms a pulled Yako his side by her neck, "has instructed me to ask each of you whether or not that recording's claims had any truth behind it."

"Didn't we already go over this?" David said, exasperated. "None of us did anything."

"Mr. Higuchi said otherwise, and so did Miss Aya. Mrs. Kaku, however," Neuro turned to the sickly (at the moment) looking woman, "has not said anything at all since then. Is something wrong?"

"N-no," she squeaked, "Of c-course n-n-not."

"Let's start with you then," Neuro advanced towards Ayumi, smiling. "You were screaming that 'it isn't true', what did you mean?"

"That I didn't d-do it."

_They know…they know it all. Why else would they stare?_

"Kill your child, you mean?"

"Y-y-yes."

_It wasn't my fault! That thing, it kept wailing and wailing, shrieking and shrieking…it was ruining everything that would've made that moment! Oh, too loud…too loud…_

"When people deny something that vehemently, it usually means that it's true," he leaned, forcing Ayumi to look at his maniacal grin, "so why don't you tell us your side of the story, hm?"

"It wasn't my fault!" she cried, backing away rapidly."It wasn't! it wasn't! Water was the answer, water was at fault! That thing had to shut up! I would've exploded myself if it didn't!"

They all stared at her.

"Stop it! Stop it!" she waved her arms before her frantically. Blindly, she backed into a small table beside an armchair. A slip of black paper fluttered to the floor. Ayumi nearly collapsed upon the chair as she screamed herself hoarse. She reached behind madly for something, _anything_ that could protect her. Her hand enclosed itself around a cup. Mouth too dry to protest further, she paused briefly to drink and continued. "There wasn't another way! It would've kept crying and I hadn't seen an explosion in so long…I couldn't…take…it…be…"

Ayumi sank to the floor, one arm grasping at her throat. She couldn't breath.

_So loud…so many screams. And it's crying again, why is it crying again?!_

She struggled against the arms of those who had rushed forward to help. _Get away! Take the sound away!_

_ Ten little humanoids_

She took comfort in the fact that it wasn't as loud as she remembered it. It seemed muffled.

Muffled by the sound of waves in the ear.

_Drinking some wine_

Water was the answer to everything…

Slowly, Ayumi's struggling ceased.

_One drank too fast_

It slowly stopped moving too, she remembered, and then…and then…it turned the tint of water.

So she had been wrong after all. What was too loud was not the sound of death. What was too quiet was not it either.

This was the sound of death—waves clashing against screams.

_And then there were nine.

* * *

_

A/N: Hmm…not how I wanted it to be. Oh well. This story is much less complicated mystery-wise than Red Room was. It's more about the people (and them dying) than the actually trick, I think.


	4. Cards

A/N: Sorry this took so long!

Disclaimer: Obviously, this belongs to Matsui Yusei, who I wish would come out with a new series already...

-Chapter 4: Cards-

Screams had filled the room, but it silenced along with Ayumi. For minutes, the invitees stared at the body, wondering if it was all just a hoax. Mutsuki gave a shrill wail and sank to the floor.

"…I wanna go home," she sobbed.

"It's okay, Mutsuki," Yuka said comfortingly, helping the child stand again.

"What the hell," David grumbled. "This…this is a joke, right? She can't actually be _dead_…"

"Ah, but the wonder of it all is that she is," Neuro said as he knelt by the body, feeling Ayumi's wrists. "No pulse."

"Wonder? Wonder?"Yuka backed up away from Neuro. "What kind of sicko are you? That lady just died!"

"Yes, I noticed," he said, not really caring and continuing to search around the body.

Harukawa bent down and picked up a fallen glass cup. "Did someone poison the water?"

"Most likely," he replied off-handedly, studying a piece of black paper he had found near Ayumi.

"H-hey, there's more cups here too," Yuka said, backed up all the way to the dinner table.

In fact, upon further inspection, there were more than just a few cups of water, spread out in various locations around the room. Each was accompanied by a slip of black paper. "All poisoned too, I'm sure," Neuro said chipperly as he arranged the black papers.

Andrew shuddered. "Someone tried to kill all of us at once…"

"Nonsense. Someone is trying to kill us all, certainly, but one at a time."

"Oh yeah?" Yuka said skeptically. "Then what's with all the poison?"

"Well," Yako started (Neuro glanced at her before smiling a little wider and continuing with the papers), "I don't think that it was intended for all of us to die at once. Generally, people eat and drink when their feeling secure. I mean, we tend to binge when we're depressed, but we're still feeling pretty safe like that. After hearing the scenario and being left on the island, everyone would be expected to be fairly uneasy—we wouldn't have an appetite. We wouldn't even drink water, probably. On someone who's state of mind was …well…_different_ would be expected to drink the water. And she," she nodded towards Ayumi, "was nearly insane. How her mind reacted to situations was different. That and she kept mumbling about water…"

Higuchi sniggered. "They really did research us well."

"Miss Kaku's murder was more than just that," Neuro said suddenly, stepping back from the table he had been working at. Grabbing a somewhat surprised Yako by the face, he pulled her until she was only inches from the table. "Look at this, teacher!"

Rubbing her cheek irately, she studied Neuro's handiwork. The black papers, each with one word printed in white, were arranged into a sentence. "'With all confusion gone, let the games begin'," Yako read.

"Game?" Yuka cried. "Don't tell me that this is still about that stupid game scenario!"

"Is that to be unexpected? Everything that the voice told us previously was no lie," Neuro said. "Which brings me to the reason I gathered all of you here. I think that it greatly benefit this case if everyone would tell teacher and me the truth."

"The truth?" David scoffed. "What truth, we already told you everything."

"No you haven't," he replied sweetly. "Didn't I already say that everything the recording said was true? So what about the roles each of you were given to play? Would you like to tell us about that?"

David drew himself to his full height and looked coolly at Neuro. "There's nothing to tell."

"Besides," Harkawa said, "Isn't that irrelevant anyways? It's obvious who the mastermind is: Zodiar Kubrick."

"You are correct, again," Neuro smiled, "but, are you forgetting what Miss Aya said before? 'No one's ever seen Mr. Kubrick in public.' It's true. If you search his name, you find plenty of information regarding his businesses and charities, but you can never find a single picture of him. No one knows his appearance. But the reputation was enough to convince the ten of us to come here I suppose. And that was part of the trick: because he was known to be generous, none of us refused to come here despite not even knowing his appearance. The truth is, for all anyone knows," he eyed each of the invitees, enjoying their expressions, "any of us could be Zodiar Kubrick."

"Che," Yuka looked uneasily at the ground, "as if any of us would have that stupid name…"

"Be careful of that tongue, Miss Yuka," Neuro said smoothly, "you might be next."

Yuka's head snapped up. "You!"

"Let's not fight over this," Yako said nervously, stepping in front of Yuka. "If you don't want to tell us anything right now, that's fine. But," she gave Ayumi's body a worried glance, "what do we do with Miss Kaku's body? We can't just leave it out here to rot."

"Bury it," Aya said.

"Now wait a minute," Andrew said, "Shouldn't we save the body for the police?"

"Police?" Higuchi rolled his eyes. "Yeah, 'cause we're all going to get off this island alive and call the cops."

"Still," he insisted, "when we do get off, it'd be best to have more evidence, the more undamaged the better."

"Rather cold of you, eh, brit?" David said quietly. "Seeing that woman already as 'evidence'? And that recording did say you killed more than any of us…"

"_The recording_?" Andrew cried, glaring at David, face a pale red. "Of course, _now_ you believe it. Not when you're being accused of course! And for heaven's sakes, I've worked with the British Interpol, of course I'd have experience with crime scenes!"

"Stop arguing!" Yako shouted, moving herself to separate the two men (failing since both were considerably taller than her and one was considerably bulkier as well). "We're getting nowhere like this!"

"Just…just, get the body away," Mutsuki whimpered, quivering hands clenching her head. "Please."

"There's the freezer," Yuka said as the two men hesitated. "A mansion this size was probably built with a pretty sizable one in the kitchen to accommodate for events or whatever. We can put the body in there. It should slow decomposition and it's not like we can just a leave the body lying around."

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Neuro pulled up the arms of the body. "The faster we put her in the freezer, the better she'll be preserved."

David narrowed his eyes. "You're the coldest of all of us, I'd say."

"Ah, well, I suppose you can say I've been desensitized." He turned towards Yako, a disarmingly friendly grin pasted on his face. "Teacher, please help your poor, weak student. _Now_."

"I'll help," Higuchi said quickly, rushing over.

"You're not teacher."

"I said I'd help."

"You're not teacher."

"It's okay, Mr. Higuchi," Yako intervened, "I'll take care of it."

"Thank you teacher! I couldn't have done it by myself."

Yako flinched as she lifted the legs of the body. It felt so strange how unmoving it was. Of course, Ayumi was dead, but the lack of even the most miniscule of movements disturbed Yako.

"Please wait here, everyone," Neuro said as they again entered the corridor leading to the kitchen. "Teacher still has some questions she would like to ask."

The door shut behind them. Yako waited until they had turned a few corners before asking him, "So why are you trying to get me away?"

"I just wondered how much looser their tongues would be without the two detectives in the room," he replied innocently. "Of course, I'm sure Higuchi will inform us of the results of my experiment."

"…do you really believe what the recording said?"

"Of course. Don't you remember what you read about Aya during our investigation of your case?"

"You mean the things Godai had? They just said that her manager and producer committed suicide…"

"Murdered," he corrected. "Even from the photos, you can tell that it wasn't suicide."

"Miss Aya wouldn't!" Yako protested angrily. "What reason would she have to?"

"You ought to ask her that yourself."

"What are the chances that everyone here is a murderer?"

"You said it yourself on the boat, cockroach. '_This was on purpose_.'"

"And," Yako paused, looking nervously at the dead woman she carried. The body was completely oblivious to how it was being lugged around. "What about Miss Ayumi?"

Neuro shrugged, obviously not caring very much. "From what I gleaned, most likely she drowned her child."

Yako let out a short laugh, laced with delirium. "This is ridiculous. Whoever's hosting this has a twisted sense of humor."

"Really? I find it very human in taste."

"Human? How is it human, it's inhumane!" She added under her breath, "Kinda like yours." Neuro, with his excellent hearing, obviously heard that and proceeded to smack the body's head into Yako's, eliciting a cry of pain from the latter. "Neuro! You can't do that with a dead body!"

"Ohoho, I must say, I _did_ find that funny."

"You see! People don't have a sense of humor that involves the dead."

"I don't suppose so, but nonetheless, whoever is behind this, fundamentally, has a human's sense of humor." He paused to open the door to the kitchen. "Seeing something else suffer; that gives a human a sense of pleasure, does it not?"

"Not everyone's a sadist like you."

"They don't have to be. Why do you think people take such interest in others' scandals? Why do children enjoy watching another child being scolded? Because it is damaging someone else and makes a person feel much better that they are not a part of it. It is the same thing here, but on a grander scale." Again, Neuro stopped, this time to pull open a metal door.

Yako shivered as ice-blue clouds of mist drifted over her feet, happily dissipating into the warmer air. The handle on the inside of the door was partially frozen. It only got colder when Yako stepped inside, her breath now creating clouds as well. The freezer was filled with meat. A surprising amount, to be honest, for a week's supply; that is if the host wasn't anticipating Yako's appetite.

"I'll stay here and keep the door open," she said. Neuro said nothing in protest, so Yako set the body's legs down. It was cold enough by the doorway, enough for her teeth to chatter and for it to be necessary for her to rub her arms. As such, she could only wonder how Neuro seemed completely comfortable even as he went deeper into the freezer to find a corner to store the body. She decided that his suit probably provided much more warmth that her thin shirt and skirt.

Neuro set down the body in the left corner of the room, partially obscured by boxes. "Shouldn't you cover her?" Yako asked when she saw Neuro walking back, clapping ice from his hands.

"Why?"

"Well…you know. So people don't see it when they walk in to get something."

"Why bother? No one can see it now."

She sighed. "Hold the door open, I'll do it."

"Okay," Neuro said quickly, face drawn into a devious grin.

Knowing what Neuro was thinking, with equal alacrity, Yako decided, "Nevermind. I'll do it some other time."

"Kaku Ayumi, at the present, is essentially a piece of dead muscle, which is what meat is. The freezer is filled with it. There's no need to hide her."

"Thanks, now I don't want to eat."

"Oh, you will by tomorrow."

Yako doubted that. Even in the warmth outside of the freezer, she shivered.

* * *

When they returned to the dining room, it was silent. No one said anything and no one made a move to say anything. Most were seated at the dining table, although David was irately pacing back and forth and Yuka sat with a sleepy Mutsuki on a couch.

"Well?" Neuro said grandly. "Are you ready to talk now?"

Mutsuki blinked, waking from her semi-asleep state. "Wah?"

"I already told you," David growled, "there's nothing to say."

"Oh, nonsense," Neuro waved his hands as though to brush away the comment. "Please, Mr. Rice, simply tell us your side of the story. You keep insisting that the recording is filled with lies, and yet you don't say much in your defense."

"You two detectives should be the ones explaining!" he shouted, temper flaring yet again. "Only you two weren't accused of anything. How do I know that you two aren't behind all this?" He took a step closer to Neuro and his flailing fists just barely hitting air. "How do I know that you two aren't only trying to draw attention away from yourselves?"

"Mr. Rice…" Yako began tiredly. Honestly, this person made the case much more difficult.

"My parents hanged themselves when I was kid," Higuchi said suddenly. David's temper seemed to deflate as he, along with everyone else, stared attentively at Higuchi. Higuchi himself didn't seem to notice the stares and continued, eyes drifted off into somewhere beyond the dining hall. "Before that, they pretty much ignored me. They were obsessed with this online roleplay game. Then the server crashed and the game was destroyed. To them, that world was already the real world. So they killed themselves with the game."

"Mr. Higuchi…" Yako trailed off. What could she say?

"Thank you for sharing that," Neuro said as though Higuchi had done a show-and-tell and not just discussed traumatic deaths. "Would anyone else like to add?"

"My manager and friend hanged themselves as well," Aya said, eyes closed. "I had gone, both times, to my dressing room only to find their bodies. The police ruled it as suicide." She opened her eyes. "I don't agree," she added quietly.

Harukawa took a deep breath before starting. "Honjou Setsuna was my…patient. She had strange disease of the brain that destroyed her brain cells. Her father had come to me to find a cure for that. But I," his mouth tightened, "I couldn't do anything. Obviously, she died."

There were a few moments of silence, but Neuro didn't do anything. He knew that someone else would start.

"There was a case a few years ago, back when I was a judge in England," Andrew sighed. "They had brought in a suspect of a series of murders. I was new to the job and he was just a child, barely fourteen. I couldn't believe that he was really the murderer…" He gulped and darted his eyes around the room to see the reactions of the others. "The evidence wasn't too concrete either, so I overruled the jury and let him go." Nervously, he dropped his head and laughed. "Turns out, he was a serial killer. They caught him again a month later."

By now, Mutsuki was fully awake. "Last winter," she started hesitantly, "mommy took me ice skating in Hokkaido…"

"Mutsuki!" Yuka sat up, "You don't have to—"

"Yes I do, Yuka!" she sobbed. "Yes I do! I wanted to play a prank on my uncle so I pretended to fall and hurt myself! He was in such a hurry to get to me that he skated over thin ice and fell in!" She grasped at her head, shaking. "I didn't mean for him to die!" she wailed. "I didn't want him to die! I didn't! I didn't!"

Yuka patted Mutsuki's arm. "I know you didn't mean it," she said soothingly. "Don't worry…"

"And do you have anything to say, Miss Tougo?"

"Can't you see this isn't the time?" Yuka said, giving another of her dark glares to Neuro.

"Oh, yes it is. Now, why don't you add to that?"

Yuka turned away, a frown set on her face. "My old man died, alright? He got crushed when he was working on a statue. It was his fault, working in the dark and not paying attention."

"Died?" Neuro asked sweetly. "Not killed?"

"Died!" Yuka snapped back.

"Very well then." Neuro made a grandiose gesture towards David. "And finally…Mr. Rice."

"What?" he grumbled.

"You know full well 'what'.

"Please, Mr. Rice," Yako interjected before David could retort, "everyone else told us what happened. It's not as though telling us would automatically make you guilty."

David grumbled some more, but he gave in, albeit with a scowl. "Fine. I had a friend in college, Tsuyuki. Nice girl, liked her a lot. But, she was clinically depressed and apparently someone was stalking her and making that worse. So…she killed herself. Locked herself in a room and gassed it. Wouldn't open the door even when I begged her to." He tossed a glance at Yako. "Happy?"

"Very," Neuro answered, even though the question was directed at Yako.

Andrew cleared his throat. As it seemed to happen every time someone spoke now, every head in the room turned to look at him. "I was just wondering, could you two tell us a bit about your backgrounds? I mean," he added hastily, "the recording said nothing about either of you. You're…detectives, but I just wondered if there was something else connecting you to this."

"I don't have a problem with it," Yako said, "it's just that there's probably not much that I can add to what all of you have probably already read in the newspapers. And, Mr. Sixson, you were my judge. You heard everything that needed to be heard."

"Yes of course, I remember. And," Andrew nodded towards Neuro, "he was your lawyer, yes?"

"Oh, yes."

"Err, Mr. Nougami…"

"I have nothing to add," Neuro said, smiling, before Andrew could finish.

"But surely," he persisted, "there is something—"

"Absolutely nothing," Neuro chirped. "My dull life has been unexciting. That is," he pulled Yako towards him in a deceptively companionable manner, "until I met teacher here. Right," he gave her shoulders a sharp squeeze, forcing Yako to fight back a yelp, "teacher?"

"Yes," she said, voice several pitches higher from the pain.

"You heard teacher!"

"Don't give me that," David growled, "We told you everything, so tell us."

Neuro sighed, still smiling. "Alright then, I shall tell all of you as much as you have told me." Yako perked up her ears in interest. Information? About Neuro? That was rare. No, unheard of. "I'm a foreigner who came to here for…business reasons. I was quite bored back home, you see. Not much there to challenge me. I decided that I liked it here and so I opened a business. After I served as Miss Yako's lawyer and discovered her propensity for mystery solving, I decided to convert my humble business into a detective's office. The end."

That couldn't be everything, Yako knew that. She only became more certain when she saw Higuchi roll his eyes.

"Err, certainly there's more to it than that," Andrew said coaxingly. "You know, a reason for you to be here?"

"I'm merely teacher's humble assistant." Neuro clapped his hands together. "Teacher is pleased now," he announced. "And I believe that we are all exhausted from today, so why don't we retire for the night?"

David stepped forward, obviously displeased by Neuro's 'explanation'. "Not until you—"

"We shall retire for the night, Mr. Rice," Neuro said, only moving his eyes to face David. "Think of the child, hm?"

* * *

Despite some protest, one by one, the invitees dispersed. Soon, only Yako was left in the room with Neuro. Instinctively, she moved away a little, knowing that he would be less 'kind' to her alone.

"I would hardly say that you told us anything," Yako said warily as the two began to head for their respective rooms.

Neuro shrugged. "I never said that I would."

Yako furrowed her eyebrows, confused. "Huh? Yes you did."

"No, I said that I would tell them that I would tell them as much as they had told me."

Yako snorted. "You barely even told the bare bones of things."

"Worm," he said, smirking, "just how much do you think they really told us?"

"I dunno," Yako hesitated, "most of it, I guess?"

"Che." Forcibly, he pressed Yako's neck until her entire upper body formed an eighty degree angle with her legs. "This is why you're still so lowly."

"Ow! What's that supposed to mean?" Yako cried, trying to continue walking in the awkward position.

"What I mean, worm, is that they didn't tell us everything. Far from it." He released her and Yako gratefully stretched her back. "For example, did you know that Higuchi conveniently forgot to mention that it was he who made the virus that crashed the game's server?"

Yako nearly snapped her neck, so fast she turned to look at Neuro. "What?"

"Quiet," he slapped a hand over her mouth, "you'll disturb everyone."

Peeved, Yako pried the hand off. "Then what about the others?" she asked, quieter.

"I'm not sure about them to be honest. I only know Higuchi's situation. Although I'm almost certain that Aya was the one who killed her producer and friend."

"That…that's impossible," Yako said, but a bit uncertainly.

"Oh, it's very possible," Neuro replied, not much disturbed, "In both pictures of the crime scene, the noose that the victim hung themselves from was attached by hooks to pipes. In both rooms, there were canisters of water. In both cases, it was Aya who found the bodies first. If Aya had left the room after knocking the victims unconscious, she could have attached the ropes to the canisters and put a hose in them. As the canisters filled, the body would've been pulled up into hanging position. Then, she could return and cut off the excess rope and attach the hook." Even after describing a murder, he seemed nonchalant.

Yako bit her lip.

"Believe me now, cockroach?"

"I can't, not yet," she shook her head, "I…I just can't. Still, are you saying that this Kubrick or whoever he is…is a vigilante or something?"

"Mm…no. I don't think so." He stopped in front of his room. "Well, good night worm, may nightmares and bedbugs visit you tonight."

"May what?" But Neuro had already closed the door behind him; that pleased, blank-eyed look on his face.

She sighed, wondering why she even bothered. As she continued down the hallway, Yako became aware, truly aware, that she was alone. It was eerily quiet except for a crumpling sound that only made her even more apprehensive. There were no lights turned on, leaving Yako to half-grope in the near darkness, following only the dim lighting of a light bulb high up in the sky.

Alone.

Darkness.

Death.

Yako shuddered despite the heat. Dead. _Dead_. Ayumi was dead. How could everyone just continue on? How could _she_ just continue on, almost as though nothing had happened? She had even carried the body…

She fiercely rubbed her hands to gather, as though to rid it of germs.

Ayumi was dead, she told herself, that was that. It was better that it hadn't done much to her, especially in a situation like this.

Dead. Alone. Locked in a cold freezer.

_Kaku Ayumi, at the present, is essentially a piece of dead muscle, which is what meat is. The freezer is filled with it. _

Honestly, no meat for a few days at least. Dimly, she wondered if that freezer would actually have more meat in it by the time it was all over. _No_, she told herself firmly. Definitely not.

Her hands closed around the door knob to her room. When she opened the door, there was nothing in the room that wasn't there before.

Almost.

Walking in, Yako felt something crumple underneath her foot. She bent to pick up a card, not unlike the ones Neuro had found in the dining room. Nervously, she fumbled for the light switch.

There were only a few words on the card: _Don't take too long, Miss 'Detective'.

* * *

_

There was no reason the others had to know about what he had done. Actually, there was no reason that anyone could know about it. Yet there were the words on the card.

_Locked her in, with that keyed called fear, and so too shall you be locked here._

He crumpled the card into a ball and threw it in the trash.

* * *

_You're building a bridge between something and nothing. So what will you do once you find that there really is just nothing on the other side?_

There must be something. There _will_ be something.

No. He smiled bitterly. There will be nothing.

* * *

Just a prank. That's what everyone said. No one blamed her.

_May I play a prank on you too?_

She didn't like the sound of that.

* * *

_"The world has gone, so we must go too." That's what they said, wasn't it?_

That was exactly what they said. He didn't need anyone to remind him of that. Once he was reminded of it, the words would be burned on his eyelids and his dreams would be of a wall of text with those words repeating themselves over and over again. He sighed. No sleep for him…

* * *

_Children are parasites, but you were a particularly parasitic one._

The hell was that supposed to mean? Freak made no sense at all. How was she a parasite to her parents? Sure, she lived off of the old man, but no more than the rest of her family. Besides, it wasn't as though he was her father.

Twice. Twice in one day that people claimed he was her father. Annoying, that's what it was.

* * *

_This time, you will be judged._

He pondered briefly what the verdict would be. Actually, there wasn't much to ponder.

Guilty.

* * *

_Your light has not gone out completely, but don't worry; out, out it will go._

Out, out? Something about a foolish actor who struts an hour on a stage or whatnot. Well, she had definitely had her hour upon the stage. Even though she didn't sing for audience anymore, was it not her desire to return to the stage that brought her here? How troublesome. She hoped curtain-call would come soon, so that the lights really would go out. They annoyed her like nothing else.

* * *

_Having fun yet?_

"Definitely," he muttered quietly to himself. He crushed the card in his hands. A smile.

Ashes slipped out through his fingers.

* * *

A/N: Whew. Sorry, but I definitely haven't given up on this story yet!


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